the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...
said
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...
moses
Moses's name appears 814 times in the Bible (KJV), third-most of any one character (Jesus at 961 actually trails David at 991). He himself wrote...
see
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...
God
The Lord is love itself, expressed in the form of wisdom itself. Love, then, is His essence, His inmost. Wisdom - the loving understanding of...
Pharaoh
'Pharaoh' signifies scientific ideas, or the natural principle in general. 'Pharaoh' signifies false ideas infesting the truth of the church. Pharaoh,' in Genesis 40, represents...
aaron
Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, one during the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, and another...
Brother
There are two ways "brother" is used in the Bible, ways that are still reflected in modern language. One denotes an actual blood relationship; the...
prophet
The idea of a "prophet" is very closely tied to the idea of the Bible itself, since the Bible was largely written by prophets. At...
Word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...
children
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....
Israel
'Israel,' in Jeremiah 23:8, signifies the spiritual natural church. The children of Israel dispersed all the literal sense of the Word by falsities. 'The children...
go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...
Go out
To go out to meet, as in Genesis 14:17, signifies to submit themselves. To go out, as in Genesis 28:10, signifies to live more remotely....
Land
Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute...
Make
'To make,' as in Hosea 8:11, refers to good. In the opposite sense it refers to evil. To make heaven, and earth, and the sea,...
heart
The heart means love. A good heart means love to the Lord and to the neighbor while a hard or stony heart means the love...
signs
The Bible often speaks of signs and miracles as things that convinced people of the Lord's leading. Swedenborg divides the two, identifying "signs" as things...
land of
'The land of Rameses,' as in Genesis 47:11, signifies the inmost of the spiritual principle in the natural mind.
Egypt
In the Bible, Egypt means knowledge and the love of knowledge. In a good sense that means knowledge of truth from the Lord through the...
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
Armies
Armies of the heavens and the sands of the sea ('Jeremiah 33:15-22') signify the knowledges of truth and good in the spiritual and natural ma{ign21}
people
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
Egyptians
Egyptians represent those who are in natural science, thus the natural, but the Hebrews, those who are of the church, thus respectively the spiritual. The...
over
'Upon' or 'over' signifies being within.
eighty
Swedenborg tells us that 80, like 40, can represent a state of temptation, when we face and battle our desires for evil – and that...
old
'Old waste places' signify the celestial aspects of faith.
Three years old
'Three years old,' as in Genesis 15:9, implies all the times and states of the church, which appears from the significance of 'three' in the...
Wonder
In Revelation 13:3, 'all the world wondered after the beast,' signifies that faith alone was gladly received and became the doctrine of the whole church.
down
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...
before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's...
Snake
'The bite of a snake' or 'serpent,' as in Amos. 5:19, signifies falsification of the Word, from the interior dominion of falsity from evil.
servants
“Servant” literally means “a person who serves another,"" and its meaning is similar in reference to the spiritual meaninngs of the Bible. Our lives in...
Sent
'Being sent' everywhere signifies, in an internal sense, going forth, as in John 17:8. In similar manner, it is said of the holy of the...
the wise
'Wise men,' as in Matthew 23:34, signify the good of doctrine. 'The wise' signify people who teach the Word. 'They that be wise' signify being...
wise
At its heart, wisdom is love's imperative desire to take form. That's a tricky statement, but think of it this way: If you love someone,...
men
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
Secret
'Secret' or 'hidden' signifies the inward part of a person. 'The secret place' signifies where the Lord is.
Every one
The phrase “Every one,” where it occurs in Genesis 20:7, signifies every thing or all things.
one
A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, line workers building them, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They...
snakes
Serpents in the Bible represent reasoning that is based on what we know through our senses. This is the lowest and most outward mode of...
Aaron's rod
'Aaron's rod,' which became a serpent, represents the power of the Lord's doctrine. This is because 'Aaron' represents doctrine and 'a rod' represents power. Aaron...
Meal
'Meal and farina' signifies the truth of faith, or truth from good.
rods
In a general sense, "rod" and "staff" both represent power, in particular the power of true ideas coming from the Lord. There are a number...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
water
Water was obviously of tremendous importance in Biblical times (and every other time). It is the basis of life, the essential ingredient in all drinks,...
Nile
The Nile' or 'river of Egypt' represents the sensory things subject to the intellectual mind, and the scientific ideas which are derived from them. This...
turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...
Worship
'Worship,' as in Revelation 13:12, signifies acknowledging something to be sacred in the church.
Words
'Words,' as in Exodus 34:28, signify everything pertaining to doctrine.
waters
'Waters,' 'rivers,' and 'depths,' as in Psalm 78:15-16, signify truths from the Lord.
blood
The internal meaning of “blood” is a little tricky, because Swedenborg gives two meanings that seem quite different. In most cases, Swedenborg links blood with...
Fish
Fish signify sensual affections which are the ultimate affections of the natural man. Also, those who are in common truths, which are also ultimates of...
come
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
destruction
'To go into perdition,' as in Revelation 17:8, signifies being rejected.
the river
The river Gihon, as in Genesis 2:13, signifies the knowledge of all things relating to goodness and truth.
Send
'To send' signifies revealing.
Smell
'The sense of smell,' in general, corresponds to the affection for perceiving.
drinking
Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what...
stretched out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...
Vessels
'Vessels,' in the internal sense, signify things serving as a receptacle, as scientific ideas and knowledges are to truths, and as truths themselves are to...
wood
To ask counsel at their stocks,' as in Hosea 4:12, signifies the good of the delight that comes from some lusts.
stone
Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in...
lifted
The idea of "lifting" is used in a number of different ways in the Bible. In general, it means connecting with a higher spiritual state...
house
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
Round about
'Round about' denotes the things most distant from the middle, or from good and truth.
Round
Something 'round' relates to good. 'A small round thing,' as in Exodus 16:14, refers to the good of truth in its first formation. This is...
seven
The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self,...
days
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...
